The present invention relates generally to computer searching systems, and particularly to search engines that perform searches based on keywords.
The Internet has grown from meager beginnings to a network that interconnects users all over the world. Users now enjoy access to virtually any type of information imaginable in the form of hundreds of millions of web pages. However, for all its good, the sheer number of web pages often makes finding a single web page of interest a daunting task.
Search Engines help people sift through and find information on the Internet by indexing web pages and documents, and storing information regarding the sites they find in a searchable database. This information includes, for example, the Universal Resource Locator (URL) or certain keywords contained in the web pages. Users may then search this database for a desired web page by entering terms and/or phrases through a browser window. However, conventional search engines typically present tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of hits to the user, who must then sift through the results. More perceptive users can narrow their searches using Boolean operators, but still face the prospect of sifting through perhaps hundreds or thousands of hits. Further adding to this problem is that most, if not all search engines, index only those terms or phrases found on or provided by the web pages themselves. Therefore, most users find a desired web page often only after a going through a time-consuming trial and error process. It would be beneficial if users could benefit from the results of previous searches.